Almost Half Of American Households Pay No Federal Income Tax

Either their incomes were too low, or they qualified for enough credits, deductions and exemptions to eliminate their liability. That’s according to projections by the Tax Policy Center, a Washington research organization.

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In recent years, credits for low- and middle-income families have grown so much that a family of four making as much as $50,000 will owe no federal income tax for 2009, as long as there are two children younger than 17, according to a separate analysis by the consulting firm Deloitte Tax.

So almost half of America pays no monies into programs that benefit everyone. They’re not paying for infrastructure, education or defense of the country.

The bottom 40 percent, on average, make a profit from the federal income tax, meaning they get more money in tax credits than they would otherwise owe in taxes. For those people, the government sends them a payment.

Because of local, state and excise taxes, most Americans look at the tax bite and object to it, not realizing they’re off the hook nationally.